Destiny's Challenges
by Menolly Onasi
Summary: KotOR: Deals with a female light side Revan. Middle part of an eventual trilogy. This will take me a while to finish so please bear with me! But please review!
1. Prologue Revised

In life there are meetings which seem  
Like fate.  
- Lord Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton ("Owen Meredith"),  
_Lucile_ (pt. II, canto III, st. 8)

* * *

Prologue

Sometimes I wonder what I would have done had I known the path of her destiny before hand. Would I have run and cowered in the opposite direction? Would I have given up before the journey started and gone down with the _Endar Spire_? I'd like to think I would have done things better. I would have taken back a lot of things that hurt her. I would not have been so hard on her, would not have snapped at her, would not have been such a downright bastard when she tried to help me. But those things are in the past now and there's nothing for me to do about it now. I simply must receive what she has given me, and accept her for who she is.

My first awareness of Danica came when Ensign Howell and Davies were discussing her one day with great animation. From what I gathered from their conversation, she was a civilian who had a special contract with the Republic. No one seemed to know what service she provided to them, but everyone seemed to know she was specifically requested by the Jedi, Bastila, who had taken over our ship, the _Endar Spire._ As a civilian this made her quite tempting in the eyes of the young ensigns on board. They did not have to worry about rules regarding fraternization with other officers. But I could tell by the tone in which Howell and Davies were that so far no one had succeeded in that area. She was playing hard to get according those two. I don't think it ever occurred to anyone on the crew that maybe she simply wasn't interested.

Our first meeting did not transpire until several weeks later. She came to inform me that Bastila, the Jedi in charge of our vessel needed to see me.I took that opportunity to study her. She was not a gorgeous beauty but something about her appearance made you forget that all of her features were somewhat unremarkable. She was rather pale, with heart shaped lips, light chestnut colored hair that fell straight to her chin, and a spattering of freckles across her nose. But it was her eyes that gave her such a striking appearance. They were almond shaped with no decipherable color. They seemed to be a contrast between blue, green, and grey. The second you seemed to decide what color they truly were, they seemed to change again. They reminded me strongly of the ocean.

I clearly showed no intention of going to see Bastila right away because she interrupted my thoughts saying, "You might want to hurry. Bastila gets crabby when she's kept waiting."

"When is she not crabby?" I mumbled.

She laughed, "Good point. I'll see you around Commander."

She spun and walked away, and I turned to find every male staring after her.

"Stop gawking and get back to work," I barked.

* * *

We did not meet again until the day the _Endar Spire_ was attacked. The attack came so suddenly, there was no time to warn the crew. Many were caught off guard and were caught like flies in a spider's web. My first responsibility was to ensure Bastila's safety. It took us fifteen minutes to reach the escape pods and I sent her ahead of me. Our target was Taris, a nearby planet and there was little time to guarantee a safe landing for all the escape pods. The few crew members that made it to the ground were so badly injured, they later died. Bastila made it, in large part, due to her Jedi Powers.

After sending Bastila out on the escape pod, I accessed the security terminal to see if anyone was alive. I only read one friendly life sign, steadily moving toward me, clearing anything in its path. And somehow, I knew who it was before she ever opened the doors I was standing in front of. Danica smiled when she saw me.

"This wasn't quite what I had it mind when I said I'd see you around."

I was all business, amazed that she still had any hint of a sense of humor still. I guess that's how she dealt with the pressure, the strain, and of course, the shock of seeing so many of her crew members die.

I was all business, ushering her into the escape pod. We had already launched before I noticed that her seat belt was broken. She just gave me a grim smile. Before I could do anything about it, we hit the turbulence coming into Taris' atmosphere. She was immediately thrown from her seat and knocked unconscious.

And that's how it all began.

* * *

I've been trying to find time to write a piece of fanfic for a very long time and I've finally got around to it. I'm also working on a prequel and after I finish this fanfic, I will start on a sequel. Who knows how long it will take. I'm currently looking for a Beta reader not only for this story, but also for my prequel. Please review!

* * *

Some things, including characters, events, and places are the property of George Lucas, and LucasArts. Please don't sue. 


	2. Chapter 1: Trust and Fashion Issues

A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else. –Cardinal de Retz

* * *

Chapter 1: Trust and Fashion Issues

_A petite woman in Jedi robes fought against a tall, darkly robed man wielding a red lightsaber. Their lightsabers met again and again with sounds of hissing. Finally, the dark man fell leaving the Jedi woman with eyes full of purpose looking towards her next challenge..._

Danica woke and sat up groggily. She felt the back of her head. It twinged a little when she touched it and she felt dry blood.

"Nice to see you awake instead of thrashing around in your sleep," said a deep male voice, startling her. She shrieked, slipped off the narrow cot, and tumbled to the floor. The owner of the voice was beside her in a second, brown eyes full of concern.

"Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you."

"I prefer the floor anyway." She blinked at him. "You look vaguely familiar, but I can't actually remember who you are..." She trailed of apologetically.

"I'm Carth Onasi. I was a Commander on board the Endar Spire. I'm not surprised you don't remember me. We only met twice. You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days now, so I imagine you're pretty confused...

_As the crash pod came to a screeching halt, Carth unbuckled his belt and glanced over at where Danica lay sprawled on the floor with a cut over one eye and a bruise blooming on her forehead. He went over and scooped her light form into his arms before cracking open the hatch of the crash pod and peering out. Lightning flashed overhead and rain poured onto his face. It was very early morning and not a soul was in sigh, so he flung the hatch open the rest of the way and crawled out. _

_Carth examined his surroundings for a place to take shelter and saw the entrance to a group of apartments. He dashed over and opened the door, praying no one would be up at this hour. Luckily, the corridor appeared to be empty. He tried each door until he finally came across one that was unlocked. The apartment was completely bare except for a workbench, two cots, and cobwebs extending from corner to corner. After laying Danica gently on one cot, he sat on the other, keeping watch and waiting for Danica to awake._

"Well, I guess I owe you my life. Thank you."

Carth shook his head. "I've never left a man behind. Besides, I'll need your help. We're stranded on Taris. Taris is under Sith control and they've proclaimed martial law and imposed a planet-wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots. I saw on your service record that you speak a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare in a raw recruit but it should come in handy. There's no way the Republic can get someone through the Sith blockade to help us."

Danica shrugged. "I only rely on myself anyway." A look of puzzlement crossed her face. "Why is Bastila so important anyway?"

Carth looked concerned. "Wow, that smack to your head did more damage then I thought. Bastila is a Jedi. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith master. She can use a Jedi ability called Battle Meditation. It's a power that can be used to instill a greater morale in battle in the user's allies, and reduce the enemy's will to fight. Using the Force, she can coordinate entire fleets of ships, allowing them to perform at their maximum. I did some scouting around and believe that Bastila crashed in the Undercity.

"We can use this apartment as a base and get some equipment and supplies from the Uppercity. Just keep a low profile."

Danica looked slightly alarmed. "Nobody would tell the Sith that we're here without good reason though, right?"

"I've heard some grim stories about Dark Jedi interrogation techniques. They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity. But if we don't do anything stupid, we should be okay. They're looking for Bastila, not a couple of grunts like us."

Wincing, Revan got up off the floor. "The sooner we start looking for Bastila, the sooner we can find her and get off this planet." She went over to the workbench on which two vibroblades were resting. She picked them up and headed for the door while Carth holstered his blasters.

Carth frowned at her as she limped to the door. "Not before we get you checked out by a doctor. There's one close by."

Danica looked exasperated. "I'm not exactly made of glass or anything. I'm fine."

"We should get you checked out just in case."

Danica rolled her eyes. "Fine. As soon as we are finished scouting out these apartments."

She opened the door and ran straight into trouble: A man wearing a Sith uniform with two droids stood with their blasters pointed at two aliens.

"Backs against the wall you alien scum. This is a raid."

One alien protested. "You ran a raid yesterday. Why can't you just leave us alone?"

The Sith blasted the alien right in the chest. The alien crumpled to the floor, dead. "Anyway else want to protest?" the Sith asked threateningly.

He spotted Danica and Carth, watching. "What have we here? Republic fugitives? Attack!"

Danica whipped out her vibroblades to knock the Sith's blaster away and then stabbed him neatly through the heart. Carth made quick work of the droids with his blasters.

Danica grinned. "Nothing like a warm welcome to make someone feel at home."

Carth looked at her in amazement. _She gets knocked unconscious for several days, wakes up, aches all over, gets attacked as soon as she steps out the door, and she's making jokes? I suppose I should just be thankful that she's able to lighten the mood._

"Right," Carth said. "Now, let's just finish exploring and get you to that doctor."

"I'm _fine_," Danica protested, picking the lock on the first door. The door slid open to reveal a pretty, dark-haired woman.

The woman looked savagely at Danica and Carth. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Er...I'm Danica and this is Carth."

"Well, if you're here to collect the bounty you'll find that it won't be so easy to kill me, Dia," said Dia waving her vibroblades.

"You have a bounty on you? Why?"

Upon seeing that Danica had no desire for battle, she lowered her weapons, though she still held a cautious expression. "Because Holdan can't keep his hands to himself. He was making advances towards me so I cut him. Since Holdan is one of Davik's men, he easily placed a bounty on me."

Carth looked at Danica and noticed that the look on her face said that she had been in Dia's position her share of times.

Danica continued her questioning. "Who is Davik?"

"The most powerful crime boss on Taris. I would not advise crossing paths with him."

"Perhaps I could get the bounty on your head removed."

Dia shook her head in despair. "You can try, but I doubt Holdan will back off. It would be an insult to his pride."

"I'll be back later," Danica said firmly.

* * *

A half hour later, after Danica finished "borrowing" things from other residents of the apartments, Carth was forcing her towards the Doctor.

The Doctor was a tall, dark human with kind eyes.

He examined her bumps and bruises carefully. "You're pretty beat up. What happened?"

"Er..." Carth stammered.

"Swoop racing accident," Danica responded over Carth's stammers.

The Doctor shook his head. "You're lucky it's not worse. Most people don't survive those sorts of accidents." He finished checking for broken bones. "Well, it appears your fine. Just get some rest and you'll be ship shape in no time."

"Well, while we're here, would it be possible to purchase some medical supplies from you?"

"Of course, let me go get some medpacs from the storeroom." He walked into a small closet behind him.

Danica frowned. "What?" Carth asked.

She pointed to a different, larger door to their right. "I thought that was his storeroom. If it's not, what else could it be."

The Doctor came back. "Here we are. Fifteen credits each."

Danica looked at Carth and winked. he knew what her plan was. "Actually Doc, I was wondering if maybe you had some implants I might be able to look at."

The Doctor looked a bit puzzled. "Well, I haven't gotten a new shipment in a long time because of the blockade but, let me see what I have."

While Carth kept the Doctor busy with implants, Danica snuck over the large door and began to pick the lock. When it finally slid open, she gasped in surprise and the Doctor looked up in alarm.

"What are you doing? That's medical personnel only!"

Inside the room, were medical tanks with men inside. Those men looked remarkable like...

"Hey, I recognize those men! They're Republic soldiers!" Carth exclaimed.

"Y-you recognize these men? Then you must be for the Republic too! Please don't tell the Sith about them! Since the pods crashed people have been secretly bringing me these soldiers. Their injuries are...terrible. Most won't survive. but at least I can make their last days more comfortable."

"You're secret is safe with us," Danica said quietly.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he whispered.

"We'd better go," Carth said to Danica. She nodded at him. Before they left, Carth saw Danica slip a 100-credit chip into the Doctor's pocket, silent and stealthy as a cat.

Back outside, Danica and Carth discovered that night was falling. "This has been one hell of a day. I need a drink."

Carth laughed, "I saw a cantina over here."

Carth and Danica entered into the crowded, dark, noisy atmosphere of the cantina and made their way to the bar.

Once Danica and Carth were each seated with some Tarisian Ale, Carth eyed her curiously. "You know, I don't actually know anything about you."

She put down her drink and crossed her arms on the table. He noticed for the first time a purple crystal on a silver chain hanging around her neck. He kept his eyes on the crystal while he asked his question. "What'd you do before you were on the crew of the Endar Spire?"

"I was a smuggler. When the Republic finally caught up with me, they gave me the choice to work for them or go to prison for the rest of my life. I chose to work for them. I could use my knowledge to help them. Keep your enemies close I guess."

He tore his eyes off the crystal and gazed across the table at her. "I keep going over the crash in my head and some things just don't add up."

"Like what?"

"Well, I just find it funny that you were a last minute addition to the crew roster and you just happen to survive."

"Would you rather that I hadn't?"

"No, it's just Bastila specifically requested you and only you to be on the crew. They requested a lot of things when they came on board. Hell, they practically took over the ship. I find it funny is all. Don't take it personally, I just hate surprises. I have my reasons."

Danica looked at him with hard eyes. "I didn't have anything to do with the crash."

"How do I know that?"

"Damnit Carth! If we're working together, you're going to have to trust me!" Angry now, she walked off to where the band was playing and sat down alone. He watched as another man came over to sit with her. For the next half hour, he watched as the man edged closer to her and Danica smiled dazzlingly and flipped her hair around.

After what seemed like an eternity, the man left and Danica headed back to Carth. "Come on," she said dragging him by his shirt collar.

"Where are we going?"

"A party." Carth looked at her. "What uptight flyboys don't know how to have fun?" she said in response to his look.

They finally found the right apartment and Carth found himself caught up in booming music and people who kept referring to "duty" and "base." "Are these people _Sith_?" he hissed at Danica.

"Yes," she said simply.

He watched as the Sith drank themselves into a stupor before passing out, almost simultaneously.

Danica dropped her friendly, buddy buddy attitude and replaced it with a look of disgust.

Carth glared at her. "You could have warned me before taking me into a room full a Sith."

Danica shrugged, "I thought you might not go, if you knew who was going to be here. I thought that we might be able to find out some information." She began rummaging through a pack that had been left in the corner.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed, triumphantly holding up a Sith uniform.

"Oh yeah. I heard that the "Sith" look is all the rage now," Carth said sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's probably about as hot as those bright orange jackets that some flyboys wear, but at least Sith uniforms will help get you passed guards," she shot back.

Carth blushed and muttered something about "regulations." Danica laughed and led the way back to their apartment.

"I'll take watch and you can sleep," Carth offered.

Danica shook her head. "I don't usually sleep much anyway. Besides I've been sleeping for days."

"I don't sleep either," said Carth. "And the Doctor said you needed your rest."

"I can rest without sleeping."

"Fine," Carth grumbled. "If it makes you feel better, you can take first watch." Carth lay down on one of the cots but did not fall asleep. He spent the night watching her fiddle around with her necklace while she stared off into space.

Carth shook his head. _I get the feeling that there's a lot she's not telling me.

* * *

_

Miss Krux: Yeah, thought I'd update this story. It was feeling left out.

Mortalis: I won't give anything away to you, but thanks for reviewing.

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Some things, including characters, events, and places are the property of George Lucas, and LucasArts. Please don't sue.

* * *

I have changed the name of my main character from Melody to Danica. Someone was complaining for certain reasons so I decided to just take care of it by eliminating the problem altogether. 


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